Broncos want to play in an international game

Denver Broncos team president/CEO Joe Ellis wants the team to play in one of the NFL’s international games, and he has been campaigning for one for years. Will the team play a game out of the United States in 2019 or sometime shortly thereafter?

“I sure hope so,” Ellis said on Thursday, according to The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala. “We’ve been requesting for years and it’s fallen on deaf ears, and I think a part of that is just certain matchups that are available for the teams that do need to play over there. Some teams, for stadium reasons or market reasons, have had to play over there.”

Ellis explained that he pushed for an international game during the Peyton Manning era but his efforts never came to fruition.

“I pushed hard when Peyton Manning was here,” Ellis said. “The problem was every team we played wanted Peyton Manning on their season-ticket package on the road and not in London. So that didn’t quite work out.”

With Manning no longer part of the picture, Denver may have better odds to get an international game.

“I think it’d be great for the team’s profile and organization’s profile and I keep calling the commissioner and he keeps saying, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ So, who knows? Maybe someday we’ll get a game in London or Mexico or wherever it may be.”

The NFL will have five international games in 2019 — four in London and one in Mexico City. There’s a chance that the Broncos could play either the Los Angeles Chargers or Oakland Raiders in an international game next season. The league’s 2019 schedule will be announced in April.